Restaurant Tasty moves into De Grey’s Ludlow – is this good or bad?

An application for planning permission reveals the future for De Grey’s tea rooms.

Many would have hoped that the building would have been resurrected as a traditional café and tea rooms. Some feared it would become a Wetherspoon pub, though many others have told me they would welcome a cheap beer and food outlet in the town.

Neither is to come to pass.

A planning application has been submitted by Wildwood: “an expanding group of restaurants with freshly prepared food sourced locally.” There is a promise of 40 full and part-time jobs, with the restaurant open from mid-morning until perhaps 11pm.

Wildwood requires changes to the back of the building with a bigger door to access an outdoor eater area. The planning application reference is 14/01249/FUL (search here). The historic aspects of the building will not be affected.

It’s good that a new restaurant use has been found for De Grey’s. But it is not De Grey’s as it was. It will not be a magnet for American tourists. It will no longer be a destination within Ludlow. It will just be another chain restaurant.

This is not a loss to our foodie reputation. The food was good at De Grey’s, but it was never talked of as a food destination. It will be a loss to the traditional character of the town.

But we need food outlets in Ludlow. A restaurant in De Grey’s will help us cope with peak demand over the summer and festival season. It is better that is used than being empty.